University of Michigan Men's Cross Country

Women's Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year (2023) Women's Great Lakes Region Track and Field Coach of the Year (2023) Great Lakes Region Indoor Assista...

Jacob Pettinga is in his third year as an assistant coach for the University of Michigan track and field team in the 2025-26 season, primarily working with the men’s distance runners after serving as a volunteer assistant coach for two seasons. Pettinga by the Numbers Empty heading Has helped coached 27 All-Americans between cross country and track and field Help led 12 cross country athletes to All-Region awards Has helped produce eight Big Ten track and field champions AT MICHIGAN In 2025, the men's distance squad captured a pair of medals at the Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor Championships, with Trent McFarland taking first in the mile run (4:03.56) and Caleb Jarema finishing second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (8:42.53). McFarland set the mile run Big Ten Indoor Championships meet record with a 3:59.29 in the preliminary round, breaking the previous record of 4:00.56 set by Kevin Sullivan in 1998, and ran four sub-four-minute miles in the indoor season. McFarland also set the program’s indoor 800-meter run record (1:47.22), while the 4x800m relay team of Camden Law, McFarland, Henry Johnson, and Brendan Herger broke a 39-year-old record and shaved more than three seconds off the previous standard with a time of 7:24.65 to finish second at the Penn Relays. Herger and McFarland represented Michigan distance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, both advancing to the finals in the 1,500-meter run and placing ninth (3:47.88) and 11th (3:47.94), respectively. Herger was the lone f

Maxwell Heng joined the University of Michigan Cross Country/Track and Field program as the Director of Operations in August 2024. Heng previously served as the On-Campus Recruiting Coordinator and Volunteer Assistant Coach, working with the horizontal jumps, at Nebraska. He graduated from Nebraska in 2021 with degrees in english and sports communications.